How do you communicate?

As an educational administrator I spend a lot of time developing ways that we can strengthen the partnership between the parents and the school. Reflecting on some of the initiatives that we have introduced this year to achieve this strengthening I have realized that it really comes down to one major component - communication. Not simply communication in the form of parents receiving information from the school (although this is part of it) but genuine 2-way communication that involves sharing, brainstorming, discussing, and problem solving collaboratively.

This year we have increased the number of opportunities for parents to come to school and meet face to face with the Teachers, the Counselors, the MYP Coordinator, the Tech Coordinator, and the Administrators. I was very pleased at our last meeting when the number of parents in attendance was almost triple that of our last meeting. One of the contributing factors to this improved attendance was the use of SMS texting to inform the MS parent of the event. This reminder text was sent by our PTA VP in the MS and we are very thankful for her willingness to do this.

Seeing the success of this has prompted us to set up an SMS account that enables the MS secretary to send a bulk message to all the MS parents at once. We plan to use the texting service to remind parents of school events including meetings and sporting jamborees, as well as SCA and PTA events being hosted at GSIS. We also envision this being a great way to communicate reminders and notes to our students as well.

We hope that this form of communication, combined with our MS Blog, emails, phone calls, and face to face meetings, will help in our efforts to continue the strengthening of our parent/school partnership through efficient and regular communication.

Differentiating and Collaborating

This afternoon during our PD time I had the opportunity to continue the great work that has been done by our MYP Coordinator and resident UbD guru, MrFambro, by working with the faculty who are nearing the end of their stage 2 UbD unit. At the same time Mr Fambro was continuing Ms Leigh's wonderful work with the stage 1 group.

The goals for this afternoon were:

1. Determine the relationship between the "6 Facets of Understanding" and Bloom's Taxonomy
2. To individually and then collaboratively review a unit of work and offer feedback and guidance on how the unit could be improved to become exemplary

As we worked through our discussions and activities it became very evident just how powerful differentiating professional development can be. All the faculty involved in the stage 2 session had very similar levels of understanding and therefore everybody was able to contribute confidently and knowledgebly. This enabled the discussion to become richer and the level of understanding to go deeper.

When we shared our feedback and guidance at the end of the unit review I was truly inspired by the comments and suggestions that the faculty made. Through collaborating and sharing our expertise and ideas we were able to take a good unit of work and turn it into something that is now exemplary. It was a wonderful process of collaboration yeilding positive results that will ultimately benefit student learning and outcomes. I am really looking to continuing this work next Monday during our Teacher workday.

That's why differentiated PD and collaboration are so important - because they are good for student (and teacher) learning.

Are you a Blogger?

Blogging is a very popular web tool for educators, particularly for international educators. It enables people to write about their overseas travels so their family and friends back home can keep up to date with their adventures. It also enables people to write and share about their teaching and resources they have found useful.

Patrick Larkin, Principal at Burlington HS and guest Blogger on Free Technology for Teachers this week, writes a very interesting post that points out why every Principal needs a blog. I would take this one step further by saying that every Principal (and educator) needs to read blogs. Why? By engaging in the blogosphere you become part of a professional learning network where many talented and dedicated professional educators around the world share best practice and resources through their blogs.

Last night as I scrolled through my Google Reader I felt like I was engaged in a professional development workshop - there were so many links to valuable educational resources and rich discussions related to blog posts! This type of professional networking really is inspiring and can only help to improve educational practice as educators engage with colleagues from around the world through the sharing of thoughts, opinions, articles, resources, links, and ideas.

Lunar New Year

Living in Asia has afforded me many opportunities to participate in and learn about cultural traditions and celebrations. One of the major ones has been Lunar New Year. I have been lucky enough to celebrate the Lunar New Year here in Korea as well as in Beijing, and this year we will travel to Taipei for the New Year break.

This really is a wonderful celebration and it is a great time to see how the different Asian nations celebrate this special event. Two things that I always associate with this time of year are the color red and the smell of firecracker smoke. These cultural experiences are one of the true highlights of being an international educator.

Image Credit

21st Century Educators

21st Century is a term that is used a lot, particularly in education. Along with this term there is often debate and conversation revolving around exactly what this means. Kim Cofino's article, 5 Tips to Becoming a 21st Century Educator, highlights the importance of not just doing things differently in the classroom, but also outside of the classroom.

Being a 21st century educator means utilizing the available technology to engage and collaborate with professionals from around the world, not just the ones within your school walls. Learning with and from colleagues who are dedicated to educational best practice is stimulating and inspiring - your professional learning network (PLN) may just turn out to be the best professional development you have participated in for a long while. I justify this statement with 3 reasons:

1. It's ongoing - your PLN is not a 2 day conference that invigorates you for a week or two, it invigorates, inspires, and challenges everyday!
2. It's ready when you are - the PLN is ongoing and does not require you to miss classes or school days to participate (it doesn't even penalize you if you miss a couple of days)
   
3. It's Just In Time (JIT) - when you have a specific question that needs to be answered, or some help with a particular issue or problem, your PLN is there ready to offer advice, answers, and solutions

Being a 21st century educator isn't about technology, it's about being connected and engaged with professionals from all over the world. Today's technology simply makes it a lot easier to do this.

A Great Time to be in Education!

With Dr Penland, Mr Petrey, and Mr Wendling currently in Canada and the US for recruiting, my meeting schedule has lightened somewhat. This has enabled me to spend more time in the classrooms - in the last two days I have been in 20 different middle school classes. I have observed so much learning and so much enjoyment and engagement in these classes! Here's some of what I have observed:

• Grade 8 students creating stop animation movies in Design Tech - displaying real inquiry
• Grade 6 students writing short stories and sharing these with their peers - examples of great thinkers and communicators
• Grade 7 and 8 students learning the finer points of volleyball - a great example of being balanced
• Grade 6 students performing in a guitar ensemble - another example of balance and also of being knowledgeable and taking risks
• Grade 6 students participating in drama activities involving lots of movement and risk taking
• Grade 7 students researching the countries of South America - demonstrating very open-minded attitudes
• Grade 6, 7, and 8 students studying the language and cultures of Korea, China, and Spanish speaking nations in their world language classes - students have been taking risks, communicating, inquiring, open-minded and principled
• Students enjoying the stories of the Bible and learning the value of prayer - thinking students who are balanced and caring
• Grade 7 students engaging with books and taking their online AR quizzes - communicating their knowledge
• Grade 7 students taking a Science test, while the grade 6 students were learning all about heat and conduction - students being knowledgeable, inquirers, and risk-takers
• Grade 8 boys working an interdisciplinary assessment that involves researching North Korea in Humanities and writing the report in their English class - this has really challenged the students to be inquirers, open-minded, caring, principled, and balanced in their views and preconceptions

After a visit to each class I have the same thought - Wow! Our students are learning so much and in so many different and exciting ways. Whether you are a student, a teacher, or an administrator, this really is a wonderful time to be involved in education!

Increasing Global Awareness Through KIVA

In 2008 I was fortunate enough to attend some presentations by Alan November at the EARCOS Administrators' Conference. During one of his presentations he stated that KIVA.org was justification enough that the internet is a good thing.

At that stage I had a personal KIVA account (which I still have) but I had not considered how this micro finance website could be used in education. This year I have been working with our Student Life Minister, Ms Choe to increase our students' global awareness by lending money through KIVA.

Each student contributed 3000 won (roughly $3 USD) that enabled us to create an account that each Home room could use to lend $25 USD to an entrepreneur of their choice. Interacting with the KIVA website and researching the profiles on the site has enabled our students to learn a great deal about developing countries around the world, as well as gaining an awareness of the plight of individuals who need a helping hand in the form of a loan to get their business idea off the ground, or to expand a business that is already running. The monthly updates keep the students engaged with their chosen entrepreneur, and helps them to feel connected as they see the loan being repaid.

This is proving to be a great way for our students to develop a more caring attitude and to engage in an authentic and meaningful way on an ongoing basis. I hope this initiative prompts some of our students and families to look for other ways that they can make a difference.